Alert to fractures in the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO), Gov. Chris Christie Monday pleaded with county GOP chairmen to call BCRO Chair Bob Yudin to remind him the party cannot sustain prolonged infighting.
Christie addressed the county chairmen at a party huddle-up at Drumthwacket.
Yudin was not present, but the governor made it a point to tell other chairs that he would say the same things to Yudin’s face.
Sources in the room described Christie’s speech as a gutcheck prologue to 2013, when the Republican is up for re-election.
Christie told the chairs that if he is the Republican candidate for governor that year, the party can ill afford backroom discord chronicled in the media, as is most notably the case in Bergen County, he said, where Yudin continues to fight with Bergen County Executive Kathe Donovan.
“Call Bob Yudin,” Christie implored the chairs.
The governor’s communication came just two days prior to a scheduled BCRO convention at which county committees will select two candidates for freeholder among at least four who seek the organization’s support.
Among those running is incumbent Freeholder Rob Hermansen, who from his perch on the county governing body has been openly critical of Yudin.
Christie on Monday told reporters he did not intend to publicly endorse anyone in that contest and would leave it up to the county commitee members. He did say he liked Hermansen, with whom he campaigned when he ran for governor in 2009.
